Help...What to do...

[LilBeardie95]

Hello Everyone,

Haven't been on here much since I had problems with my two baby beardies. Got lots of tips and now I have a healthy, 8mth old bearded dragon. Now my concern is Feeding. I know I am not giving him the right nutrition and I am having a hard time with crickets. I am in Canada so the roaches are out of the question. My live crickets die very quick no matter what I give them or what size of container they are in and have become a waste of money in my eyes. So I have gone to canned crickets. Stitch seems to like them and I do dust them with Calcium powder 5 times a week and Multi-Vitamin 2 times a week, and has honestly been doing well on this. So well that he is too big and I am now in the process of obtaining money to upgrade his tank size. I have yet to measure him, but from my understanding he seems to be the right size for his age. Just adding I do have a hard time getting him to eat his veggies, he's so picky!!! I want to be able to give him the proper diet and I am open to any suggestions. As well can someone please fill me in on superworms, and a good commercial diet? I travel a lot in the summer and my boyfriend can't always get to my house 2-3 times a day to feed my little man. Help!!! I want the best and this is the only place I can get suggestions I trust!

 

[popsickle18]

I can't help much on commercial diets but I can give you a link to a great site! http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html Here is an entire list of things you could feed your dragon. It has come in handy a lot for me! I had a picky dragon before so I feel your pain. Perhaps something on this list may be an undiscovered favorite.

I hope this helps

 

[FisherAnd2Chainz]

I have a 6 month old dragon that I am trying to make eat greens as well. I have been feeding her greens a few times a week for breakfast because she still needs a lot of protein. But for your 9 month old dragon I would offer greens for breakfast every morning and no protein. Offer him mustard greens, collard greens, kale, just simple stuff. But to get my picky girl to eat green I have to starve her really. I offer the greens before I go to work and she wants nothing to do with them (I know she is hungry), but when I come back the bowl is usually gone. It sounds bad to starve your baby, but it is good discipline for them. It is not going to hurt the little guy Also, you can probably stop feeding him 3 times a day. Breakfast and then dinner. You can offer him some treats (say a few crickets or silkworms in the afternoon IF he ate his greens) if you would like. This is my little input on getting a dragon to eat greens.

With superworms, they are a good treat for your dragon if they are at least 16 inches. They are high in fat and have quite a bit of chitin. They are way better than mealworms, never use these! If you have never fed your dragon superworms, feed him a few and see how he digests them. If he digests them well, feed him around 7 a day. Like I said, good treats, not a staple in my opinion.

If you want a good worm for a staple, use silkworms! Hands down, the best staple for your reptile!

 

[Mistyck]

You're wasting more money by buying canned crickets. They have no nutritional value. You should be offering a salad or greens all day in his tank. There is no "good" commercial diet. If you want your dragon to be healthy, then he needs FRESH LIVE food along with the FRESH veggies. Commercial food will not do it, period. At 8 months, he should be ok, (not to say it's right) with one live food feeding a day (morning preferably), and then the salad/greens in there all day.

How big is the dragon? What size tank is he in now?

As for superworms, they are only recommended for dragons 16" and above.

 

[LilBeardie95]

He doesn't stay still long enough for me to measure him accuretly but he's 5 1/2 inchs, and he won't eat the greens, i have tried!!! So I am wasting money on stuff he will not eat. I always add his needed supplements to food, wether they have no nutritional value or not. Honestly if someone could get him to not be picky that would be great, but he is, and I give him canned because he won't chase the live ones like he used to!! I am at a loss with him!!! Also he is in 20-25 gallon tank. I am getting a bigger one soon.

 

[Mistyck]

He doesn't stay still long enough for me to measure him accuretly but he's 5 1/2 inchs, and he won't eat the greens, i have tried!!! So I am wasting money on stuff he will not eat. I always add his needed supplements to food, wether they have no nutritional value or not. Honestly if someone could get him to not be picky that would be great, but he is, and I give him canned because he won't chase the live ones like he used to!! I am at a loss with him!!! Also he is in 20-25 gallon tank. I am getting a bigger one soon.

He's still a baby (by the size you're saying), which is why he's not interested in greens. They should still be offered all day in the tank. It doesn't matter if you're supplementing the dried crickets, they still have no nutritional value. He needs live food, period. He's picky because he's young. He needs to be fed more live prey, more often...There is no way around that. You are going to have to feed him 2-3 times a day, as many as he will eat in a 10min time period each time. Plus provide the greens in the tank all day. If he won't chase live crickets, then change the feeder to something else, i.e. phoenix worms/silk worms/calci worms/repti-worms or dubia roaches. He NEEDS live protein.

At 5 1/2 inches, he doesn't necessarily need a larger tank yet, but if you found a 40gal breeder tank that would be ideal for the rest of his life.

Wait, you're saying he's 8mo old, but he's only 5 1/2"?! Is that from tip of snout to tip of tail, or tip of snout to vent? Either way, that is EXTREMELY small for a 8mo old.

 

[LilBeardie95]

I measured wrong his just over 12 inches, and is growing fast!!!

 

[LilBeardie95]

They are not dry crickets either

 

[LilBeardie95]

I can't keep crickets alive, they die way to fast no matter what I do, so I switched to gut loaded canned crickets (not dry) until I could find something better. I live in canada, options are limited.

 

[Mistyck]

They are not dry crickets either

You just said that you were feeding canned crickets. Those are freeze dried, and have no nutritional value. It doesn't matter if they say "gut loaded." There is nothing nutritional about canned feeders. That's like eating a candy bar and chips all day. You're not going to get anything out of it.

If he's 12" from tip of snout to tip of tail, that's almost about average for his age...a little under, but in the range.

There's still no way around having to feed him 2x a day, as many live proteins as he will eat in a 10min time period. He needs the protein.

I wrote down what to look into as for live feeders...

change the feeder to something else, i.e. phoenix worms/silk worms/calci worms/repti-worms

since you're in Canada, there is no way to get roaches.

 

[LilBeardie95]

He seems fine on them for now, has had no health problems, I only have canned right now because live crickets are a freaking waste and die in a day. So i came on here to what was out there for me to get him that would be better. I will look for different live protein feeders, as for veggies, I hope I have the money to keep up with wasted food.

 

[Mistyck]

He seems fine on them for now, has had no health problems, I only have canned right now because live crickets are a freaking waste and die in a day. So i came on here to what was out there for me to get him that would be better. I will look for different live protein feeders, as for veggies, I hope I have the money to keep up with wasted food.

Edit: I was going to say something, but better just shut my mouth.

Your dragon, you do with it what you want... :?

 

[LilBeardie95]

Thank you for your help, and basically giving me a hard time. I just needed tips, and what other food options I had. Not to be told I am doing it wrong. But thank you.

 

[Mistyck]

Thank you for your help, and basically giving me a hard time. I just needed tips, and what other food options I had. Not to be told I am doing it wrong. But thank you.

:roll:

I told you what other food options were out there for you, that I know of in Canada.

If you don't like the tips/options that are out there, then keep doing what you're doing. There's only so much the forum can help you with if you're not open to options.

Sorry you feel that I was "giving you a hard time" but I'm just being truthful. If you can't handle that, then don't know what to tell you.

 

[LilBeardie95]

Thank you. No more posts.